Research · updated 2026-10-15

The brand domain index

For every brand we test the same 648 domain patterns, then open each one that resolves and record what it serves.

33live third-party pages per brand, median of 40 operators measured

What the index found

Across 40 brands we tested 25,920 domain patterns in total. 3,084 of them resolve. Of those, 1,532 serve a working page that names the brand and does not belong to the operator.

The spread is wide. The least exposed brand has 8 live third-party pages against this pattern set. The most exposed has 99, more than ten times as many. We have not measured what drives that gap and will not guess at it here. It is the first thing we check per brand, because the answer decides whether the work is cleanup or containment.

Per-brand distribution

Brand names are withheld. We publish counts, not targets.

Resolving	Live third-party	Parked	Unrelated	Dead
170	99	28	31	10
192	87	45	44	14
107	74	14	13	5
109	71	20	12	3
140	61	33	16	29
160	57	47	40	16
91	51	18	12	9
107	50	16	29	7
75	50	9	8	7
68	50	6	4	4
82	49	12	14	4
68	47	14	5	1
99	46	20	26	6
109	45	32	11	18
116	45	21	40	10
97	44	13	21	7
71	44	19	4	2
71	43	13	3	3
109	41	15	39	11
49	33	9	4	2
55	30	12	6	2
47	30	7	5	4
62	29	7	11	12
73	28	5	23	5
51	28	7	7	8
38	28	6	2	1
38	28	5	4	0
43	27	6	6	1
45	26	9	5	4
68	26	28	9	4
68	24	16	16	8
42	21	9	6	1
61	20	20	15	5
48	18	10	5	9
36	18	11	4	2
28	18	3	3	3
44	17	10	0	12
52	11	4	34	2
56	10	3	28	2
39	8	5	24	0

How to read the categories

Live third-party is the number that matters. The domain resolves, returns a real page, that page names the brand as a standalone word, and it is not the operator's own property or a redirect to it.

Parked covers registrar holding pages, sale listings and default server pages. These cost the operator nothing today and are the cheapest to acquire, which is why they are tracked separately.

Unrelated are domains matching the pattern that belong to a different business. Short brand tokens that are also dictionary words produce most of these, and we exclude them from the headline figure rather than inflating it.

This index measures a fixed pattern set, not every domain in existence. It is a comparable benchmark, not a census. The method page states exactly what falls outside it.

Resolving	Live third-party	Parked	Unrelated	Dead
170	99	28	31	10
192	87	45	44	14
107	74	14	13	5
109	71	20	12	3
140	61	33	16	29
160	57	47	40	16
91	51	18	12	9
107	50	16	29	7
75	50	9	8	7
68	50	6	4	4
82	49	12	14	4
68	47	14	5	1
99	46	20	26	6
109	45	32	11	18
116	45	21	40	10
97	44	13	21	7
71	44	19	4	2
71	43	13	3	3
109	41	15	39	11
49	33	9	4	2
55	30	12	6	2
47	30	7	5	4
62	29	7	11	12
73	28	5	23	5
51	28	7	7	8
38	28	6	2	1
38	28	5	4	0
43	27	6	6	1
45	26	9	5	4
68	26	28	9	4
68	24	16	16	8
42	21	9	6	1
61	20	20	15	5
48	18	10	5	9
36	18	11	4	2
28	18	3	3	3
44	17	10	0	12
52	11	4	34	2
56	10	3	28	2
39	8	5	24	0

Resolving	Live third-party	Parked	Unrelated	Dead
170	99	28	31	10
192	87	45	44	14
107	74	14	13	5
109	71	20	12	3
140	61	33	16	29
160	57	47	40	16
91	51	18	12	9
107	50	16	29	7
75	50	9	8	7
68	50	6	4	4
82	49	12	14	4
68	47	14	5	1
99	46	20	26	6
109	45	32	11	18
116	45	21	40	10
97	44	13	21	7
71	44	19	4	2
71	43	13	3	3
109	41	15	39	11
49	33	9	4	2
55	30	12	6	2
47	30	7	5	4
62	29	7	11	12
73	28	5	23	5
51	28	7	7	8
38	28	6	2	1
38	28	5	4	0
43	27	6	6	1
45	26	9	5	4
68	26	28	9	4
68	24	16	16	8
42	21	9	6	1
61	20	20	15	5
48	18	10	5	9
36	18	11	4	2
28	18	3	3	3
44	17	10	0	12
52	11	4	34	2
56	10	3	28	2
39	8	5	24	0

Resolving	Live third-party	Parked	Unrelated	Dead
170	99	28	31	10
192	87	45	44	14
107	74	14	13	5
109	71	20	12	3
140	61	33	16	29
160	57	47	40	16
91	51	18	12	9
107	50	16	29	7
75	50	9	8	7
68	50	6	4	4
82	49	12	14	4
68	47	14	5	1
99	46	20	26	6
109	45	32	11	18
116	45	21	40	10
97	44	13	21	7
71	44	19	4	2
71	43	13	3	3
109	41	15	39	11
49	33	9	4	2
55	30	12	6	2
47	30	7	5	4
62	29	7	11	12
73	28	5	23	5
51	28	7	7	8
38	28	6	2	1
38	28	5	4	0
43	27	6	6	1
45	26	9	5	4
68	26	28	9	4
68	24	16	16	8
42	21	9	6	1
61	20	20	15	5
48	18	10	5	9
36	18	11	4	2
28	18	3	3	3
44	17	10	0	12
52	11	4	34	2
56	10	3	28	2
39	8	5	24	0